Stephen J. Rivele, prolific author and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, has died at 75

Stephen J. Rivele, 75, formerly of Philadelphia, prolific author, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, playwright, poet, mentor, and volunteer, died Friday, May 17, of heart failure at his home in Pasadena, Calif.

Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Rivele was celebrated in New York, California, London, and elsewhere around the world as the longtime writing partner to fellow Philadelphian Christopher Wilkinson and nominee for the 1996 Oscar for co-screenwriting Oliver Stone’s Nixon. He and Wilkinson, together since the 1990s, were tireless over 30 years, and, in addition to Nixon, wrote screenplays for Ali, Copying Beethoven, Birth of the Dragon, Miles Ahead, and Pawn Sacrifice.

He was also relentless and resourceful as a writer on his own, and Mr. Rivele penned hundreds of articles, books, and plays that won awards and became movie production projects. He coauthored The Plumber with Philadelphia crime figure Joseph Salerno in 1990, and it was a bestseller and movie prospect. He wrote poetry in “Desert Songs,” and his plays, especially “The Wes and Jane Show,” were feted in Los Angeles, New York, and London.

Inquirer movie critic Carrie Rickey noted the “eloquence” of Mr. Rivele’s script in Ali, and Inquirer book critic Frederick T. Martens said he created a “rich psychological profile” of Philadelphia crime boss Nicky Scarfo in The Plumber.

His work was eclectic, and his passion for projects ran hot. He made dozens of documentaries and rewrote scripts of other hit films. He spent the fall of 1977 as a photographer for the 5-9 Eagles football team, and his early writing examined the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

He sought to be open-minded about things, and told The Inquirer in 1995 that he disliked President Richard Nixon before he started work on Stone’s film. “I carried a sign for Jack Kennedy when I was 13,” Mr. Rivele said. “But the more you try to see the world from Nixon’s point of view, the more you get a sense of the logic of his behavior, the more you empathize.”

He went to four colleges, championed education throughout his life, and cofounded the Performing Arts Theater of Philadelphia in the 1970s. He supported local film festivals and screenwriting seminars and competitions for years. In 2007, The Inquirer reported that he was so impressed with submissions from young screenwriters in the Set in Philadelphia contest that he doubled the award money he had offered and picked four winners instead of one.

He spoke French, kept up on current events, and mentored young writers in youth programs in Philadelphia and California. Colleagues at a mentoring organization in Pasadena called him a “constant force for good,” “an amazing blessing for the students,” and “a light to our program” in a tribute.

“He poured his heart, mind, and soul into our students,” a colleague said. “I will forever remember his charismatic character and critical mind with so much tenderness.” Another said: “His love for the students was genuine.”

Stephen John Rivele was born May 6, 1949, in Philadelphia. From the start, he was curious, energetic, and intelligent. He embraced progressive causes and the civil rights movement as a teenager, and met the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at a 1967 fundraiser.

He graduated as valedictorian at West Catholic High School and attended St. Joseph’s University, Swarthmore College, and the University of Montpellier in France. He was the first American to be accepted at the Paris Film Conservatory in 1975, and he studied with famed director and writer Eric Rohmer at the University of Paris.

In the 1970s, he went to the Republic of the Congo, learned field-crop production and soil management at a Jesuit mission, and helped the locals establish farms and cattle cooperatives. His family noted his “bone-dry wit and unflinching honesty” in a tribute, and praised him as a “steadfast pillar of morality, integrity, and principle.”

He married and divorced Christine Bocek, Kathy Long, and Jennifer Hata, and had sons Eli with Bocek and Nicholas with Hata. He married Kwihee Pak, and his current partner was Christine Tokugawa.

Mr. Rivele gave money and toys to those in need, and made it a point, his family said, to respect women, sales people, and security guards. He read poetry by John Donne and Gerard Manly Hopkins, and often recited Shakespeare in the evenings.

He was a powerlifter, fisherman, and talented woodworker. Tokugawa called him Bear and said he “was smart, kind, noble, and devilishly handsome. … He held himself to a high standard of culture and tradition.”

His son Eli said: “He was kind and generous. He was a very thoughtful person.”

In addition to his sons, partner, and former wives, Mr. Rivele is survived by two granddaughters and other relatives. A brother died earlier.

A celebration of his life is to be held later.

Donations in his name may be made to 826 Valencia, Box 410595, San Francisco, Calif. 94141.